Self Doubt and Supposed Rescue
by The Dark Knight's Revenge
Summary: Elizabeth vanishes when she takes a walk from Lambton and is injured in an accident, and Mr. Darcy is called by her aunt and uncle to retrieve her. When Mr. Darcy shows more than a little concern for Elizabeth's safety, will Elizabeth be forced to rethink her rejection of him?
1. Chapter 1

Mr. Darcy was taking his afternoon tea in the grand parlour at Pemberly, staring out the window at the stormt that was brewing on the horizon.

Since he had stumbled upon Elizabeth Bennet touring the grounds of Pemberly, he could scarcely think of any other sight then her large brown eyes. He had vowed not to care for her anymore since her rejection of him at Rosings, but his amorous feelings towards the young woman had only grown in strength because of it.

"Urgent letter, Mr. Darcy." The butler said from the door, holding out a hastily addressed communiqe for him to read.

Darcy snatched the letter, seeing it addressed from Elizabeth's Aunt in town.

_'Mr Darcy,_

_Elizabeth has gone missing on her morning walk. She was supposed to have been back with us for dinner, and has not been seen in town since she left this morning at eight. Please send the messenger back with word if she is lodged with you at Pemberly, we pray she is in your care and not lost in this storm. _

_Best, _

_Mrs. Gardiner_

Darcy turned back to the butler.

"Dismiss the messenger, I will go myself with all haste to aid the search for Miss Bennet."

Ten minutes later, Darcy was galloping down the road to Lambton, worry in his heart. He knew that Elizabeth was not one to get lost in the woods. Something must have happened.

Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner were pacing round their room at the inn when Mr. Darcy swept in.

"She has not returned." He stated. Mrs. Gardiner began to cry.

"We must take all haste in searching for her then, god help Lizzie in this weather." Mr. gardiner said, taking up his hat and cloak. As if in reply, a heavy crack of thunder rattled the window, and rain began to sheet down outside.

"I will assist you." Mr. Darcy said, concern evident in his voice. "I know some places of shelter where she may be waiting out the storm."

"Let's just pray we find her before this storm gets worse." Mr. Gardiner said, nodding.

"Be careful..." Mrs. Gardiner said tearfully as the men swept out the door.

Darcy held his lantern aloft as he maneuvered his horse down the most prominent of the hunting trails leading from Lambton, already soaked from the driving rain.

"Miss Bennet?" He called. "Elizabeth?" There was no answer.

He urged the horse on another few kilometers, then spied something on the path in front of him. He dismounted, sprinting to the sodden object laying on the path.

It was Elizabeth's bonnet.

Darcy picked it up, fingering one of the now muddy and ruined ribbons. He had once enjoyed the sight of the bonnet covering Lizzie's brown curls.

Stuffing the ruined bonnet into his trenchcoat pocket, Darcy resolved to find its owner and make sure the bonnet was safely in her hands once more.

Darcy left his horse and continued on foot, sure that he was on Elizabeth's path now. The path had become too muddy to see her footprints, but he continued on, worry clutching at his heart.

Darcy turned a bend in the path, and nearly tumbled down a small ravine. He stopped himself in time, and observed his surroundings.

Pemberly was surprisingly visible over the trees, not even a mile off. The part of the path he was on was sheltered on one side by and earthen overhang and several tree roots, and the other side sloped down to a small river. Part of the path had given way, tumbling down over the rocky slope to the water below.

Darcy looked down at the river, and was horrified to see a white shape laying brokenly below. Elizabeth had fallen when the path gave way, and now lay near the bank of the river, unmoving.

"Elizabeth!" He cried, leaping from the path and sliding down the muddy slope toward Lizzie's still body.

Darcy rolled her over, groaning in despair when he saw Lizzie's white pallor. He took her hands, feeling for a pulse under the cold skin. He felt nothing.

"NO!" Darcy cried, his feelings for Elizabeth welling up inside of him. How he regretted all his harsh words to her, how could he have treated her so coldly? Now she was laying here, broken and cold...

Darcy picked Elizabeth up and carried her back up the slope to where the horse was waiting. He looked once again at Pemberly in the distance. He would take her there, and his private physician would attend her. It would be safer than going all the way back to Lambton.

Taking an alternate route down to the river, Darcy crossed and made his way to the Pemberley grounds, arms held securely around Elizabeth for the entirety of the journey.


	2. Chapter 2

When Mr. Darcy kicked open the front doors of Pemberley, he was quite a sight be seen. Mrs. Reynolds nearly fainted at the sight of him striding into the entrance hall, dripping wet and carrying Elizabeth's equally sodden form in his arms.

"Mrs. Reynolds, if you would be so kind as to fetch Mr. Stoves with all due haste, Miss Bennet needs immediate medical attention." Mr. Darcy said as he walked past his astonished housekeeper, not even sparing her a glance as he proceeded to the guest wing.

"Yes sir... R-right away, sir." Mrs. Reynolds said, gathering her skirts and bustling away to the medic's quarters as fast as her old bones could manage.

A trail of puddles marked the route Darcy took to the nearest guest bedroom, his long strides making his boots squeak on the floor.

Every so often, he would look down at Elizabeth's pale face, and reassured himself that her cheeks were rosier and lips less blue, but worried that it was mere fancy and not actual truth.

After what seemed like an extraordinarily long amount of time, Darcy reached the guest wing and kicked the first door open. The room looked clean enough, so Darcy set Elizabeth gently down on the bed, suddenly unsure of what to do. He shut the door, then changed his mind and opened it again.

As he often did in moments of inactivity, Darcy began to observe.

He started with the window curtains and the bedposts, which were french lace and carved mahogany as best he could tell. When inventory of his furniture grew to be nearly unbearable, he was forced to start observing the other occupant of the room. Elizabeth.

It was then that Darcy was hit with Elizabeth Bennet's beauty.

In unconsciousness, Elizabeth lost the guarded, proud look that she often carried in his presence. He had seen this look vanish once before, when she laughed with her sister Jane at a joke they shared while at the ball. It had caught him off guard then too- causing leave of his senses to where he asked her to dance.

It had been the most awkward thing he had done in his life... And how now, in retrospect, he wished he wasn't so much of a... well, an ass.

"Damn it all, Darcy." He whispered under his breath, unable to tear his eyes away from Elizabeth's face. Her perfectly formed lips; graceful eyelids covering large brown eyes; sculpted nose; graceful neck that curved down into a pair of perfectly formed-

"Good heavens."

Darcy whirled around to see Doctor Stoves standing at the open door, accompanied by a fussing Mrs. Reynolds.

"That will be all, Mrs. Reynolds, you may retire for the evening." Darcy said smoothly, his mask of calm shutting back into place over the surprised expression that had, for a second, graced his features. Mrs. Reynolds curtsied and left.

Doctor Stoves set down his bag and rolled up his sleeves, proceeding past Darcy silently. This left the latter man to do nothing but hover beside the bed anxiously.

"Mr. Darcy." Stoves said, pausing in his examination. Darcy acknowledge him with a tilt of his chin. "Please exit the room, you are doing no good to the patient standing there dripping on the carpet."

Darcy hastily looked at his feet, realizing that he had indeed created a large puddle on the carpet.

"I see. Please keep me informed." Darcy said, exiting the room swiftly.

"Mr. Darcy? Please shut the door behind you." The Doctor called. Darcy squeaked his way back to the doorway and bowed his head curtly before shutting the door with as little force possible. He then squeaked his way upstairs to his bedroom.

Once in his room, Darcy began pacing, once again unaware of the mess his still sodden coat was making.

Elizabeth had to be alright. She had to be. There was no force on earth or in heaven that could conquer the Bennets, least of all his Lizzie.

The fact that she was lying in a bed somewhere below his feet, certainly ailing, possibly dead, was making Darcy want to tear his hear out bit by bit. The only thing that kept him from doing so was the thought that when she awoke, Elizabeth probably would not want to see him sporting a bare scalp.

If she wanted to see him at all.

Darcy heaved an all mighty sigh and threw himself down in the chair across from the fire, immediately springing up again as his wet coat soaked his trousers.

Frustrated now, Darcy threw his jacket onto the floor, adding his simple cravat and overshirt before shimmying out of the rest of his clothes and adding them to the pile. Realizing just how soaked and cold he really was, Darcy suppressed a shiver and crossed the room to his washbasin, where he opened the drawer beneath and retrieved a towel and robe to wrap himself in.

Darcy sat before the fire once more, taking care to fetch a new chair. He stared moodily into the flames and listened to the clock on the mantelpiece tick.


	3. Chapter 3

Mr. Darcy was woken some time later by a rap on the door.

"Master Darcy, a Mr. Gardiner is here to inquire about Miss Bennet. The Doctor is speaking to him now." Mrs. Reynolds' voice came from out in the hall. Mr. Darcy swore and pulled on his robe, sweeping out the door and down the stairs as quickly as he could.

How could he have been so stupid as to not write to Elizabeth's Uncle? Inexcusable!

Darcy blew into the foyer, looking every bit the exhausted preoccupied man he was.

"Mr. Gardiner, there is no excuse for my absense of mind that led me to forget writing to you and your wife. Please forgive me. I thought only of Elizabeth's safety and comfort."

"So i've heard." Mr. Gardiner said amusedly, taking in Mr. Darcy's disheveled appearance. Darcy shifted uncomforably and closed his robe.

An awkward silence settled in, and the grandfather clock in the parlour chimed six. A frown passed over Darcy's face, and he turned to the sound as if sure he heard correctly. Indeed, now that he was still, he could see the faint light comng in the windows.

The doctor cleared his throat.

"As I was telling Mr. Gardiner, Master Darcy, Miss Bennet will make a full recovery, but she will need several days worth of bedrest. I found a good bump to the head and some cuts, but they will not cause lasting damage. She is resting now."

"Good good." Darcy replied, not allowing the relief to show on his face.

"Well. I will be back to my lodgings. My wife is quite concerned for Elizabeth. I expect we shall return later in the day so she may sit with our niece." Mr. Gardiner said, taking a turn at clearing his throat.

"Yes, certainly. If you inquire to my stables, they will procide you with a fresh horse." Darcy said.

With that, the three men bowed and took their leave of each other.

Darcy proceeded up the staircase, then shook his head to organize his thoughts. He couldn't go see Elizabeth until she requested to see him. Both propriety and his personality demanded it. Why then did he feel drawn to her room?

The next clock he passed by read ten minutes after the hour, and Darcy realized that he was entirely too exhausted to think clearly. The events of the night before and the morning were muddled in his mind, clouding his thinking.

His tired feet found their way to his upstairs bedchamber, and Darcy collapsed back into his bed, asleep before he had a chance to think more.

The the dream began...

_Elizabeth's playful eyes caught his across the dance floor, inquisitive and alluring. She was laughing at a joke one of the other young ladies had said, perhaps in his expense, but Darcy would never know. _

_The scene shifted, and Elizabeth was running though a sunlight wheat field. Pemberley was a white monument in the far distance. She paused and looked over her shoulder with the same bewitching glance as before, tempting him after her. He followed, and the landscape changed again. _

_Elizabeth was now skipping down a forest path, the red ribbons of her dress undone and fluttering like butterflies in the wind. She stopped as she turned round a bend and gave him the look a third time before disappearing. _

_Darcy turned the corner and the scene of Elizabeth's fall panned out in front of him; the rock path fell sharply away, and Elizabeth lay brokenly at the bottom of a small rise, laying brokenly with the ribbons fanning out like tendrils of blood. _

_Darcy scrambled down to her side, wanting to pick her up, to hold her tightly to his breast until the life returned to her... but Elizabeth's body dissolved into smoke and ash as soon as he touched it. He recoiled with a cry, feeling himself fall back into the sharp shale, the rocks cutting into his body and blood gushing forth..._

Darcy threw himself out of bed in an effort to wake himself up, contact with the cold wood floor bringing him sharply back to reality. The clock over the mantel read past noon.

Trying to get a better grip on his mental state, Darcy went to his washstand and doused his head in cold water, allowing it to clear his senses. As he towelled off his hair, his mind drifted back to the dream.

Surely Elizabeth's death in the dream was purely metaphorical... Constructed from the panicked thoughts he had when under the duress and adrenaline from her rescue. There was no threat to Elizabeth now that she was safe under his roof, surely...

Surely.

Try as he might, Darcy couldn't shake the nervousness his dream presented. He felt a sudden sense of worry for Elizabeth, and despite his best manners, he found himself dressing hurriedly with the intention of going to Elizabeth's room.

Halfway there, Darcy was intercepted by Mrs. Reynolds.

"Master Darcy, I was just going to inquire as to whether you had plans for dining."

"No, thank you. I will eat later in my study." Darcy replied, hiding all traces of emotion and assuming his usual proud facade.

"Yes, Master Darcy." Mrs. Reynolds said, walking in the direction of Elizabeth's room. Darcy froze. It would be most improper were he to follow his housekeeper to Elizabeth's room. Though perhaps she was on an different errand.

Darcy quietly followed Mrs. Reynolds down the hall and stairs, his stomach tightening as she opened the door of Elizabeth's room.

"Master Darcy, my I help you with anything else?" She said as she caught sight of him hovering on the landing.

"...No." Darcy said quickly. "I find myself in need of some air." He swept past and hurried down the other set of stairs and out into the drive. The air was brisk and clear, helping his mind clear slightly.

He strolled out to his flower garden, breathing deeply the scent of lilacs and early roses.

He must take Elizabeth out here when her health retu-

Darcy turned and spartan kicked a stone statue, recoiling as his foot stung.

It wasn't fair. He wasn't supposed to feel like this. Elizabeth was below him, and a fiery conniving woman to boot.

Darcy plucked a red rose from a nearby bush.

Suddenly, he remembered the red of the ribbons... Red like blood. Elizabeth's blood.

He flung the blossom away and fled the flowers, walking along the drive.

Suddenly, his eyes fell on the far yellow field of grass and wheat left over from an early harvest.

Mischevious brown eyes appeared in his mind's eye, and that was his undoing.


	4. Chapter 4

Mrs. Reynolds didn't usually worry after her Master. It wasn't in Mr. Darcy's nature to cause concern to anyone, least of all his staff.

But as she watched Mr. Darcy stride away from Miss Bennet's room in a rather agitated manner, it occurred to the housekeeper that her Master was acting very strange indeed.

In fact, his peculiar behavior hadn't manifested itself until the rescue of Miss Bennet...

Most odd, Mrs. Reynolds thought as she entered Elizabeth's room.

She began to retuck the covers around Miss Bennet's still form, checking for any odor or problem with the sheets. She thought she heard something as she bustled around, but put it off as a trick of her hearing.

She was just opening the window to refresh the room when she heard it again. Mrs. Reynolds paused and listened.

The room was silent, and a swift moving black form caught Mrs. Reynold's attention. It was Master Darcy all right, but what was he doing?

As she watched, he paced the driveway... then entered the rose garden. Then he returned a few minutes later, only to fixate on something in the distance.

For a moment the man was still, then he began alternating between pulling his hair out and waving his arms in obvious distress, jumping around and kicking at the ground. She could see his lips moving, but couldn't hear what he was saying.

Most peculiar, indeed.

Mrs. Reynolds turned back to the bed, and gasped in surprise.

Elizabeth Bennet's eyes were fluttering, and she moaned softly. Mrs. Reynolds crossed herself and hustled out of the room and downstairs to fetch the Doctor and her Master.

* * *

Darcy let loose all his frustrations as he flailed and kicked and jumped, swinging his head around like a madman. One image, and that damned woman was his undoing. Damned if he would let her cause this infuriating need within his system, he was the master, not she-

"Master... Darcy...?" A flabbergasted voice came from behind him.

Darcy spun around, composing himself as best as he could. Mrs. Reynolds and the Doctor stood at the side of the house, watching him.

"Yes Doctor?" Darcy said, slamming his calm facade in place as best as he could. He walked forwards quickly to shake the Doctor's hand.

"...Ah. Well, the good woman here informs me that your charge is awake. I was on my way in to see her. Quick incredible that she is awake this soon after the injury." The Doctor said, still eyeing Darcy carefully.

"Miss Elizabeth... she's awake?" Darcy said, with slightly more feeling than he meant to.

"...Y-yes, Master Darcy. That is what our good Mrs. Reynolds reports."

"Good, good." Darcy said, turning once more on his heel and stalking off to a more private area of his grounds.

The Doctor and Mrs. Reynolds exchanged glances.

"Very odd." The Doctor remarked.

"Most peculiar." Mrs. Reynolds agreed.

* * *

Darcy walked quickly around to the back of Pemberly, then turned aimlessly in a circle, battling the flood of relief that engulfed him.

Elizabeth was awake.

_Elizabeth was awake._

By god's will, she was safe.

Now... what the hell was he going to distract himself with so that he stayed away from her room? Darcy began pacing again, then shook his head and walked back around to the front of the grand house.

As he passed around the side of the house, he observed a window open far above his head. Odd.

He was about to stride off and tell Mrs. Reynolds to shut the damn windows, when he heard a strain of laughter float down.

"...Really, Miss Bennet, please..." the Doctor's voice wafted down. Darcy froze. He waited, listening hard, but then a hand came out the window, pulling it shut.

Darcy swore under his breath. If only he could be there... without really being there. Like a fly, he mused, swatting at one that buzzed my his ear.

Then, it came to him.

Perhaps there was a way to be near to Elizabeth without really being there...

Darcy walked quickly to the front door. All he needed to do was investigate a little.

* * *

Elizabeth awoke with a fierce pounding in her head and a breeze on her face. Blinking back the light, she saw that someone had left the window open in her room.

Moving gingerly, she began stripping the covers off, marvelling at how soft the linens were. Placing her feet on the cold ground, she made to get up, but was assailed by a wave of dizziness.

After a minute of waiting for her head to clear, Elizabeth was able to stand and brace herself against the bedpost.

A sudden knock on her door made her jump. She looked down and saw that she was in only a plain nightshift.

"Miss Bennet, it's Mrs. Reynolds. I brought the good Doctor here to have a look at you."

Elizabeth's heart froze. Mrs. Reynolds? Why, she was the housekeeper at Pemberley...

The pieces came together.

"Ah... Enter." Elizabeth stammered after a moment, heart beating erratically. The door opened and the familiar old woman bustled in, followed by a sharp looking doctor.

"Really, Miss Bennet! Please return to bed!" The doctor protested.

"I was just shutting the window." Elizabeth replied with a smile, walking over and pulling the window shut before sitting back on the bed.

The Doctor looked on disprovingly, but then brought his bag in and set it on the bed, pulling out his listening device to begin the examination. Elizabeth didn't protest, but silently vowed that she would do everything in her power to leave Pemberley as quickly as possible.


End file.
